QUANTITATIVE-DETERMINATION OF REDUCING SUGARS AND RAFFINOSE IN WHITE BEET SUGAR AND BEET MOLASSES BY FULLY AUTOMATED CAPILLARY GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY

A fully automated method is described for the quantitative determinati on of reducing sugars and raffinose in beet white sugar and beet molas ses. The samples are prepared in a PrepStation coupled to a gas chroma tograph equipped with an apolar capillary column and a flame ionizatio n detector. Sample preparation and analysis run in time, providing hig h productivity. The sensitivity of the method for glucose and fructose in white beet sugar is in the order of 10 mg/kg. The reproducibility of the determinations is excellent and RSD values smaller than 5% are obtained. The same procedure can be applied to quantify glucose, fruct ose and raffinose in beet molasses.